Welcome To The Blog Page of Jesse Beckom III

Rally Me

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I would like to welcome all my new blog followers!!
Thank you for wanting to step through the looking glass with me in this crazy,
fun world of Bobsled and chasing Olympic dreams!

I will do my best to sum things up quickly to bring
everyone up to speed. It’s been a busy and stressful season and I apologize for
not getting this out quicker. I do update my Twitter (@jessbeck3)
more consistently so please follow me because it allows me to post information
to all of you quicker.

I believe the last place I left off I was headed
back up to Calgary for more push testing. One of the drivers had decided to
pick his team by having us race off in different combinations to see which
combination was the fastest. It was five of us racing off for the three spots
on this particular sled. We had our race-off and long story short I won a spot
on the sled after beating a teammate that was previously ranked above me after
Push Championships a couple of months ago. After the race-off I was told I was
now on the team, so as you can imagine I was feeling pretty good.

However two days later I was told by one of the
other push athlete’s on the team that they had decided to replace me with
someone else! Once again you can imagine how upset and disappointed at this
turn of events since I had funded my own way to Calgary, won my race-off to be
on the sled against an athlete that finished 4th in push champs.

To add insult to injury, the driver who made the decision
asked the same push athlete who helped maneuver me off the sled to inform me I
was no longer on that sled. Yup, my thoughts exactly!

It’s moments like this when I wish football rules
applied in bobsled leaving less chances for plainly wrong acts to be treated as
acceptable. Regardless of how I felt at that moment and even now, I needed to
move on and figure out what my next move would be.

I thank God for making me as strong as he has
because without him as my base I would have easily lost it at that moment. I am also so thankful that I have great
family members who helped me deal with what just occurred. I prayed a bit more
for some clarity, and how to proceed. The fact was that I needed to be on a crew
and race in Team Trials for me to have a chance to make the National Team.

National
Team Trials

Our National Team Trial Races determine who will be
on the National Team/World Cup Team for the first half of the Season. For the
men's National Team they select three teams plus two alternate brakemen giving
a total of 3 Drivers and 11 Brakemen. For the women, they pick three teams and
three alternates for the National Team, giving a total of 3 Drivers and 6
Brakemen.

In order to obtain a proper assessment of a team’s
ability to perform (drive and push) on different tracks we were scheduled to
have a week of racing on the Bobsled Track in Lake Placid, NY and Park City,
UT. However, due to warm weather in Lake Placid we were only able to have one
2man race there, so we ended up having a 2man race and two 4man races in Park
City. Like the rest of my travel this summer leading up to Team Trials, these
trips are all self-funded. I will say this, having to spend two weeks in Park
City, UT paying for housing, rental cars, workout facilities, food and etc. is
an expensive trip.

Being that it is Olympic year and the depth of the
American program is increasing, it was a very competitive Team Trials process. In
the first 2man race in Lake Placid my teammates finished 5th, in the 2man race raced in Park City we finished 6th, and in the two 4man races one
race we finished 5th and 4th.

After the final Team Trials race the Selection
Committee met and selected who would be on the National Team. Just as happened last
year, two of the guys who raced as USA 4 were selected for the National Team
(They were in the position I was in until I was moved off the sled after having
proved I belonged on it).

The bad news is that I did not make the National
Team for the first half of the season.
The good news is that I still have a chance to make the National Team
for the Second half of the season and, God willing, the Olympic Team. I am
racing on the North America’s Cup (NAC) Circuit and, possibly, a race or two on
the Intercontinental Cup Circuit which has races in Europe and are both self-funded
race circuits. With good performances in these races the coaches can decide to
bring me up to the National Team and let me compete in another round of push
testing against current members of the National Team.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Here are the direct links to purchase your Official Jesse Beckom III gear and Official 2014 Calendar. Proceeds will help me raise the $10k I need to fund my training, races, and travel as I strive to compete in 2014 Winter Olympic Games!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

It's been a crazy team trials process which I will fill you all in on later.

However, today myself and the rest of Team_USA_Bobsled_Super_Force kick off this Olympic season of racing in Calgary, Canada tonight at 5pm MST. I will race 2-man today with Codie Basque; tomorrow I race 2-man with Jake Peterson, then Saturday I will be racing 4-man with Codie Basque, Nate Weber, and Sam Mithchner. It is a gauntlet of races but God has prepared me for what I need to accomplish!

My gear is packed and ready to put on!

The below link will take you to the FIBT site where you will be able to find race results either later today or tomorrow morning

The added bonus is that you will not only look good in the gear, but since I receive 50% of every sell made you will also be directly helping me fund my season! So hey why not gear up the whole family! Thank you all for your supportJessewww.jesssebeckom3.comTwitter: @jessbeck3

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Good morning everyone,I'm currently in the midst of the 2013-2014 Bobsled National Team Trials but will be updating my blog from where I last left off after Team Trials are over.However you can watch our National Team Trial Races as they occur on the TeamUSA YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TeamUSA?feature=watch. You can also watch a replay of the first 2-Man races that was held this weekend in Lake Placid.Although I did not race the 2-man this weekend I am hoping to race the 2-man race in Park City, Utah and will be racing the two 4-Man races in Park City, UT.Below is the race schedule that is located at http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Bobsled-Skeleton-Federation/EventsOctober 20, 2013- Park City, UT 2-Man Bobsled Selection Race, 7-9pmOctober 21, 2013- Lake Placid, NY Skeleton Selection Race, 8-11amOctober 22, 2013- Lake Placid, NY Skeleton Selection Race, 8-11amOctober 25, 2013- Park City, UT 4-Man and Women Bobsled Selection Race, 7-9pmOctober 26, 2013- Park City, UT 4-Man Bobsled Selection Race, 7-9pmOctober 29, 2013- Park City, UT Skeleton Selection Race, 7-9pmOctober 30, 2013- Park City, UT Skeleton Selection Race, 7-9pmI'm still currently seeking sponsors to help me fund my season, please view my fund raising page at https://www.rallyme.com/rallies/259 and my fund raising Calendar for sale at http://www.jessebeckom.blogspot.com/2013/09/2014-jesse-beckom-iii-journey-to-russia_13.html

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

As I continue to raise money for my Bobsled training I invite you all to visit my Crowd Funding pagehttp://www.rallyme.com/rallies/259. The ideal behind Crowd Funding is to receive smaller amounts of funding from numerous sources, which combined reach a specific goal amount.

I am looking to raise $10,594. I am thankful for those of you who have already showed your support of my dream by becoming one of my financial sponsors. I'm also confident that if everyone who reads my blog and or receives my update e-mails becomes one of my financial sponsors I can will my funding goal.

About Me

I'm Jesse, a Chicago native, Iowa State University Graduate, and National Team Member of USA Bobsled. My blog is written to inform readers my journey as a Bobsled athlete. God Bless and I hope you enjoy my stories.